As Dickens wrote in; “A Tale of Two Cities;” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …”

And for the faithful from Columbus and Eugene, it will be, we just don’t yet know into which category each will fit.

We’ll begin with the Ducks of Oregon, aka the Sons of Phil Knight, who move like Zephyrus, outscoring its opponents by the eye-popping aggregate: 661-312.

These descendants of Dan Fouts are directed by it flawless, dual-threat Heisman QB Marcus Mariota (40 TDs-3 INTs-15 rushing), who, as suggested by his jaw-dropping two-year totals: (71 TDs – 7 INTs), is the finest maestro this side of Leonard Bernstein.

The pigskin conductor of the nation’s second highest scoring eleven (47), is assisted by a pair of John Deere caliber earth movers: t-freshman Royce Freeman (over 1300 yards -18TDs), and his partner Thomas Tyner.

When Mr. Heisman goes aerial, he has a Whitman’s Sampler of glue-fingered receivers; Byron Marshall, Dwayne Stanford, Darren Carrington, and a Himalayan-sized tight end (6-6, 250) Evan Baylis, from whom to choose.

The Ducks D, anchored by tackle DeForest Buckner (12.5 tfls-4 sacks), and backer Tony Washington (11 tfls – 6 sacks), is perceived as a liability, but its 27th ranking in points surrendered (22), places it in a high cotton position.

The Sons of Woody Hayes, who have outscored its opponents by a better than two-to-one margin 630-310, have thrived in its underdog role, continuously singing “Goodbye Columbus” to its opponents who line up with an air of perceived superiority.

The Bucks coach, Urban Meyer has been like “The Miracle Worker” in getting his boys into the championship game, especially when one considers that its Escalade-sized (6-6, 250) “third-string” QB Cardale Jones is now controlling the stick shift.

The Scarlet and Grey, the nation’s fifth highest scoring squad (45) sets the tone on the legs of its thoroughbred tailback Ezekiel Elliott (1632 yards – 14TDs). To quote another Eliot, T.S. “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out, how far one can go,” fits the Buckeyes approach.

And when Mr. Jones, (who has played more like the Celtics Sam) takes to the skies, Devin Smith (27 yards a catch), and Michael Thomas can score quicker than Miley Cyrus, having combined for 21 TDs.

The Sons of Randy Gradishar’s “Eveready” D anchored by its All-America lineman Joey Bosa (20 tfls-13.5 sacks), with support from backers Joshua Perry, and Darron Lee (16.5 tfls-7.5 sacks), stifles the run and the pass with the same ferocity that the “Soul of Boston” has toward the “Weasel” Tsarnaev.

It is difficult to go against Mr. Heisman, but we think the better coach, and by far the better defense, resides on the sideline of the team with the “Ghosts of Championship Past.”

We’ll take the Boys from Columbus, as the Big Ten captures its first national title since the Bucks did it in W’s first term – 2002.

That’s it from cyber-space for the season. Thanks to all, especially Ken Johnson for keeping us on track.